The Agency for Procurement, Technology and Logistics of the Japanese Ministry of Defense has completed the development of a multi-purpose UH-2 helicopter to replace the outdated UH-1J. According to Janes, now it will be transferred to the Japanese Ground Defense Forces for operation.
Currently, the Japanese army is armed with 127 UH-1J single-engine helicopters. They are all a version of the UH-1H of the American company Bell Helicopters, produced under license by Fuji Heavy Industries, today known as the Subaru Corporation. The Japanese version differs from the original with a more powerful engine, vibration damping system, infrared self-defense systems and night vision equipment. The UH-1J is designed for 14 fighters or loads weighing up to 1.7 tons. It can fly a distance of up to 500 kilometers at a speed of up to 217 kilometers per hour.
The Japanese Defense Ministry approved a program for the development of a new multi-purpose helicopter in 2015. At first, she called herself UH-X. The Japanese military needed a helicopter suitable for flying at low and ultra-low altitudes in conditions of high air temperature to replace the UH-1J.
Subaru and Bell Helicopter undertook to create a replacement for the UH-1J. They developed a military version of the Bell 412EPX with a length of 13 meters and a width of three meters. The new helicopter can carry a payload weighing more than two tons. Unlike the UH-1J, the UH-2 has two Pratt & Whitney engines and a four-bladed propeller. The maximum speed of the helicopter exceeds 231 kilometers per hour. Its flight tests began in 2018.
The development of the UH-2 was completed on June 24. Now it should be transferred to the Japanese Ground Defense Forces for operation. In total, the Ministry of Defense plans to receive about 150 such helicopters in the next 20. The first six should be ready by 2023.
Other helicopter development projects are also continuing in Japan. Earlier we wrote about a high-speed rotorcraft that can perform flights at speeds up to 500 kilometers per hour. Last year, it was tested in a wind tunnel.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
